BY FITSUM GETACHEW
By now the name Adwa must be familiar with every Ethiopian. But mostly those who have been to school know better about what Adwa represents in Ethiopian history. I know that every school across the country includes Adwa as part of Ethiopian history in their history lessons. It is recognized as a chapter of the glorious past of Ethiopia. Historians say Adwa is definitely a watershed in Ethiopian history as it is also of African history. It is even a big chapter in the history of all black people because it heralds a new day, a new frame of mind in the psychology of black people, a new stimulus in their struggle for equality and justice.
It is undeniable that the colonialists have always imparted their own mentality in the minds of the people they colonized and made them feel inferior to them. It was a systematic and protracted behavior that the colonizers instilled in the minds of people of African descent. The blacks were made to believe that they were inferior to the white and that their fate was always determined by the white bosses. They were made to believe that the European culture and civilization was superior to the African culture and languages, that the western religions were better than the African beliefs and customs. Africans were encouraged to discard their ways of life and adopt or try to emulate the white man’s manners.
First it was the slave trade which goes back more than four hundred years when the whites came to Africa to recruit black people and make them toil for free inflicting on those who opposed or resisted or tried to flee away from the working places mostly where there was hard labour. They were made to face harsh punishments including injuring their feet so that they could not run away. Some were even brutally shot dead so that others will be subdued totally for years and do not think of rebellions. All this campaign was part of the subjugation of the black population by the whites.
The colonization of Africa was just part and parcel of this long past. We remember how the European powers agreed to scramble Africa among different countries and divided Africa as they wished. It was in this context that Italy invaded Ethiopia in the late 1890s to have its own share of an African colonial property but was successfully repulsed by the patriotic resistance of Ethiopians inflicting on them the humiliation of defeat.
There could be various theories as to why a major European power such as Italy was soundly defeated by a country that many did not even know whether it actually existed in the world map. For the invaders it was supposed to be a formality to conquer a people with no modern army and little armaments. No one gave any chance for Ethiopia to resist such attack let alone prevail over such a modern army. But the unexpected and the seemingly impossible happened. Ethiopian troops actually routed the Italian forces on March 2, 1896 in half a day of fierce fighting. Thousands of Italian troops were killed and thousands more were captured and taken prisoners of war. Ethiopians had written a new and glorious chapter of their history!
Ethiopia’s major force was its resilience to defend their land from foreign aggression and the call of Emperor Menelik was heeded to the letter by all Ethiopian patriots. The emperor had made the call to prepare for the long fight to defend the country against a foreign aggressor that was about to subjugate Ethiopians and the call said all able bodied citizens were ordered to join the campaign preparing their own arms and provisions for the entire duration of the battle.
Estimates ranged to be around 300,000 troops on the part of Ethiopia none of whom were well trained in fighting using modern arms but were all armed with courage and willingness to face the enemy even with the rudimentary arms they managed to have. On the other side, the Italians were well armed and trained and their conviction was that they could easily knock out the Ethiopian army and take over the land they fancied. But they realized later on that they had been misinformed and had an erroneous image of what Ethiopians were capable of doing.
They had underestimated the number of Ethiopian troops and had thought that in front of the huge war machinery of the Italians, Ethiopians would lie down their arms and surrender. But all that was to result suicidal. Ethiopians did not care about dying for their country. Rather they considered it a privilege to do that. Dying for the country, for the family and for their religion was an honor and hence they fought fiercely head on without backing an inch in front of the roaring machine guns and bombs. Ethiopians assaulted the Italians en masse outnumbering them totally.
There were reports that in the end when Ethiopians resulted victorious, back in Rome it was all darkness with the sad news of defeat reverberating throughout the world. The government of Crispi was thrown out of power. The international media reported the victory of Ethiopia, an African nation over Italy, a European giant. It was considered a shame and that such a thing could happen. Europeans were embarrassed by this defeat and this transmitted a significant message to the entire world. The colonizers were terrorized that similar outbursts could happen in the colonies because the news did reach the ears of every one including the colonies. Black people in the US hailed the victory of Adwa as an African victory over whites and reported it in their papers with pride. The black people movement began with this victory and pan African movement was also conceived and born.
This year it is the 127th anniversary of the victory of Adwa and yet not everyone in Africa recognizes this victory as an African victory because most probably African nations have not done well their homework. The African Union has evidently not done enough to promote this victory as an African achievement, an African milestone in its recent history and use it to inspire the youth and make them part of this history.
Adwa is not only an Ethiopian victory alone because it has worldwide implications. Not enough emphasis was given to this victory especially in schools because it must be put in to the right context and taught well. Books have been written about Adwa but not enough. Films have been produced featuring Adwa but again not enough. A lot remains to be done.
The history of the victory of Adwa deserves a lot more than actually written or told. The youth researchers must dig deep in to the various facets of this huge victory. The preparations of the campaign, the various leaders in the campaign, the way the troops got ready for the campaign, the long trips to the place of the battle, the actual battle, the post battle events and many more are yet to be researched, written and published in great detail. There are so many stories to tell around all the protagonists of this huge historical event. This is a huge endeavor that every historian must be ready to dig into and record it.
New facts continue to emerge as deeper research is undertaken and Africans must sponsor more researchers so that the entire picture of the battle comes to light. The post Adwa implications also deserve their own records and what diplomatic and military aftermaths followed. What did Ethiopia gain from this monumental victory need to be researched and written, and the current generation needs to clearly understand that Adwa has not been a simple victory.
The sacrifices have been enormous and the social life of Ethiopians was deeply affected because they had to prepare for the battle for months. It was not business as usual for years. All other activities were halted in order to prepare for the campaign. Families were disrupted because they had to send the major bread winner to the warfront. Young women as well were part of the campaign to help the real fighters with provision of food and taking care of the donkeys and horses involved in the long travel to the war front. Preparations took months and it was clearly understood that for Ethiopians it was a matter life or death. In the end it must be said that Ethiopia was blessed with the enormous victory. Its prayers were answered.
When we celebrate this victory we must realize what sort of sacrifices was made to face and defeat a major nation’s army. Without the resolve of all those involved in the war with the Emperor and Empress being the major conductors of the battle as well as the totality of all those who took part in the campaign, victory would never have resulted. It was the unity of all Ethiopians that eventually resulted in victory. There was no distinction between ethnicities, language groups and beliefs and the nation was united for one objective under one leadership. That is exactly what Africans now need to do in order to beat backwardness and their reliance on outside forces or assistance.
Together we can beat poverty and the AU must learn from the Adwa Victory. Facing problems in a united front leads to victory. Adwa is not a fairytale as some may believe or try to diminish its significance, but a concrete reality that happened exactly 127 years ago and it must be emulated by Africans recognizing it a major inspiration.
The Ethiopian Herald March 1/2023
